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After a four-year hiatus, A Taste of Minnesota—St. Paul’s popular 4th of July family festival—is back. The event, which brought good food and music to thousands every year for over 26 years, abruptly ended in 2010 when its management company ﬁled for bankruptcy. This year, 10K Lakes Incorporated collaborated with former festival leader Linda Maddox and many original staff members to bring the celebration back to Harriet Island.

In past years, the festival featured prominent groups such as Ringo Starr; Earth, Wind, & Fire; and the Jayhawks. This year, Taste of Minnesota will feature 28 bands, including local favorites Soul Asylum. The lineup will also include hard rock band Halestorm; country class-act Joe “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off” Nichols; and Starship. The Jefferson Airplane descendants have recently released a new album titled Loveless Fascination, which singer Mickey Thomas—the only member remaining from the band’s mid-80s “We Built This City” heyday—claims is “organic” and has “a real edge to it.”

Under-the-radar treats for local music fans include the Castaways—the band responsible for one of Minnesota’s most indelible singles, “Liar, Liar” (1965)—and New Primitives, the Afro-Caribbean jam band who well-known to Thursday night patrons of Nye’s Polonaise Room.

The event will take place from July 3-6 at Harriet Island Regional Park. Admission is free until 3 p.m., after which admission costs $10 and includes $5 in tickets that can be redeemed for food and drink from the festival’s many local vendors.